The view from the other side of the AP story

At some point earlier this year, I buckled up the tool belt and went to work on this old house in Colorado to prepare it for selling. Not too long after we sold it, The Associated Press was asking its Twitter followers if anyone had any thoughts on housing and real estate. Well, we had some thoughts, considering we sold our house in only 10 days. Turns out that if you have a nice product and price it right, real estate does OK. Anyway, we couldn’t get back to the reporter in time for the story.

I guess they kept our info, though, because today, Adrienne and I were interviewed for what sounds like a pretty extensive package about politics and the economy.

It’s weird talking to a reporter. You’re talking and talking, then after awhile, it occurs to you that you’ve been rambling for some time and that you’ve probably said 500 stupid things that might end up in print somewhere with your real name. It’s possible that I even talked about our cats.

Why, yes, Mr. Journalist, I’d love to discuss the economy with you and offer some Average Person Insight. But first, let me tell you about my cats.

It’s a good reminder about what makes a good reporter: the ability to get information so effortlessly from people, to make them trust you. He’s asking the right questions in the right way, and the subject feels a lot like it’s just a conversation, not an interview. Nice job, Dave Carpenter. It’s easy to forget, I think, that compelling news and information isn’t easy to produce.

Not sure if anything I said will be used in the article, but it was interesting to be a part of it. My familiarity with AP stories is from the other side of the desk, where they’re so often gutted to fit in a briefs package. Glad to have experienced the other side of it, even if I’m quoted saying something dumb.